Here it is, the last American Pulps Reading List of 2021. This month’s reading list has a bit of a Christmas theme to it. But don’t worry, the stories have a lot more “Christmas Murder” than “Christmas Miracle” in them.
Easy Death — Daniel Boyd
‘Twas the week before Christmas… that’s where the story starts, December 19, 1951; one day before thieves, hired by a local crime boss steal half a million dollars from an armored car. But getting the money is the easy part. Getting away with it is a different thing entirely. This one from Hard Case Crime is a lot of fun, with some great twists and characters. And with Christmastime and a blizzard coming down in the story, it’s a good time of year to crack this one open.
Cover art by Glen Orbik, who I thought we had written about before, but apparently not. So once this article’s done I’mma put a Glen Orbik one together (editor’s note: here’s said article) for our pulp artist series.
The Thin Man — Dashiell Hammett
This story might be my favorite by Dash Hammett. In Thin Man, Nick Charles, a retired private investigator gets roped into a case while on vacation in New York City over the holidays. The reason they’re in New York over the holidays? If they stayed in San Francisco they’d have to spend it with Nick’s wife Nora’s boring family. So they take their dog Asta, head east, and throw a banger of a Christmas party.
I think if I could magically transport myself into a book, it’d probably be The Thin man. Nick and Nora Charles partied. The movie series (with William Powell and Myrna Loy playing Nick and Nora respectively) may show them in speakeasies and drinking, but its a drop in a bottle of whiskey compared to the amount they throw down in the book. Bourbon before breakfast is a daily activity for Nick Charles and I have to say, I’m all about it.
Oh yeah, they solve a murder and meet some fun high society people and low-life denizens of New York City in the process. It’s fun.
MEN’S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY: Vol. 1 No. 3 — Robert Deis and Bill Cunningham
MAQ is Back! This one has been out since September but we didn’t have any reading lists that month. If you’ve been following us for a while, you know that we’re huge fans of Don Pendleton’s Mack Bolan (aka The Executioner) novels. Mack, taking on the mob and other career criminals who evade the justice system really kick-started the Vietnam Vet Vigilante Action genre (it pre-dates First Blood [Rambo] by 3 years).
Anyway, issue number three features reprints of the “Book Bonus” versions of the first two Executioner novels, an article written by Don’s wife, author Linda Pendleton, art by Gil Cohen — the artist for a lot of the early Exeuctioner novels. Also, a Bettie Page photo spread, and an editorial by Chuck Dixon.
The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories — P.D. James
The Queen of Crime, P. D. James often wrote a short story for Christmas. It’s not a surprise, the Christmas special is very much a British thing—even for crime shows like Midsomer Murders and Sherlock—and P.D. James was a very British woman (she was a Baroness).
This collection has a few of those Christmas stories. The Twelve Clues of Christmas features her most famous character, Scotland Yard detective Adam Dalgliesh. Dalgliesh is also in The Boxdale Inheritance. In A Very Commonplace Murder, a clerk’s love of porno isn’t the only reason he doesn’t come forward as a witness. And in the title story, a young war widow is invited to her grandmother’s house for the first time and suspects she’s being used as the perfect alibi.
If you haven’t read P.D. James and you’re into whodunnit-style books. You should probably check this one out.
Money, Money, Money — Ed McBain
It’s the Christmas season in Isola: A woman is murdered and fed to the lions in the city zoo. A trash can is stuffed with a book salesman like a macabre Oscar the Grouch. The body’s got a gun and a whole lotta cash. And then there’s the large stash of money that a lot of dangerous people are interested in. It’s the most wonderful time of the year for the 87th Precinct.
Steve Holland: The World’s Greatest Illustration Art Model — Michael Stradford
Michael Stradford has been single-handedly keeping our Facebook page relevant; we really need to jazz that page up some, most of our efforts go into Instagram. Anyway, we’ve talked about Steve Holland in the past, but this book goes way more in-depth than our article ever would. This is book is a must for any pulp art fan, particularly of the Men’s Adventure Magazine variety.
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